(Yicai) Feb. 7 -- The majority of Chinese listed banks to have released their preliminary performance reports for last year so far have posted a notable increase in net profit and credit issuance, particularly urban commercial banks, thanks to substantial growth in their corporate loan business and improved asset quality.

Hangzhou Bank’s loan balance swelled 16.1 percent at the end of 2024 from a year earlier, it said in its report. While that of Nanjing Bank expanded 14.3 percent and that of Changsha Bank climbed 11.6 percent.

Thirteen lenders have released their 2024 performance reports so far. Four of these are large joint-stock banks, namely China Merchants Bank, Industrial Bank, CITIC Bank and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, while the rest are regional urban commercial banks.

"Regional banks recorded a considerable boost in lending last year, especially in the form of corporate loans, demonstrating tangible support for the real economy,” an insider from the banking industry told Yicai. “Given the strong credit resilience in many regions, it is expected that regional banks will maintain high enthusiasm for future credit supply."

Most of the 13 banks also logged a jump in net profit and revenue as well as improved asset quality. Specifically, Hangzhou Bank, Qilu Bank, Jiangsu Bank, and Suzhou Rural Commercial Bank all posted double-digit leaps in net profit year on year.

Nanjing Bank's revenue increased by double digits. And 12 of the lenders either saw a decline in their non-performing loans or there was no change. Only Zhengzhou Bank did not disclose its latest NPL data.

Better asset quality indicates that the banks are doing more to dispose of their bad debts. For example, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank said the drop in its NPL ratio was mainly due to continuous efforts to dispose of non-performing assets through various methods such as asset securitization and debt-to-equity swaps.

However, despite the 0.12 percentage point dip, the Pudong Development Bank’s NPL ratio was still the highest among the 12 banks at the end of last year at 1.36 percent.

The banking sector's NPL ratio is expected to continue to slide this year as banks make more efforts to dispose of bad debts and due to ongoing risk prevention and mitigation efforts in key industries, Wen Bin, chief economist at China Minsheng Bank, told Yicai. However, the asset quality of personal consumption loans and credit cards warrants further attention, he added.

None of the listed banks including the major state-owned banks have published their final 2024 financial reports yet. Ping An Bank is expected to be the first to release its report on March 14, and all listed lenders have to issue their annual reports by April 29.

Editor: Kim Taylor